Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 656 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,581 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of GSK by 2,816.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 700 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in GSK by 271.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 885 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,327 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of GSK during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on GSK shares. Guggenheim raised shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $41.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.90. The stock has a market cap of $85.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.64. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $33.33 and a 52-week high of $43.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.3564 per share. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.82%.

GSK Profile

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D.